Piecing Together A Murder Mystery

The Brutal Killing Of A College Student Baffles The Suspect's Friends And Family.

September 25, 2005|By Kevin Smith Staff Writer and Staff Researcher William Lucey contributed to this report.

Sunrise — When a college student who wanted to work with children and an ex-convict who wanted to turn his life around ended up alone in a clothing-strewn three-bedroom apartment, the results were tragic.

The student left dead on a stretcher, the ex-convict left in handcuffs, and people who knew them both could not even guess at what led to a sudden and brutal death early Tuesday morning.

Sunrise police said Christine Myers, 18, was dating James Mozie for a short time before the night they ended up at his family's apartment in the 5900 block of Northwest 19th Street. Myers, a Broward Community College student and Sunrise resident who lived barely a mile from the building where she was killed, was well-known and well-liked.

"She was a sweet girl, sweet all the way," said Jack Desire, a middle school classmate of Myers. He lived near the apartment where she died and recalled seeing her that evening. It may have been, he said, the first time she met Mozie's younger brother, Edward Howard.

Howard, 26, had 11 arrests to his name and had served time in prison for armed robbery, carjacking and attempted kidnapping, according to state records. But he was trying hard to stay out of trouble, said neighbor Wisler Isme, and often was seen waiting at the bus stop for his mother, ready to carry groceries back to the apartment.

He also would talk to anyone who would listen about the mistakes he made, and he warned others not to follow in his path.

"We'd hang out, and he'd talk to us," Isme said. "He'd tell you a jail story, tell you it's bad and that he's never going back."

Monday night, local residents recalled, was normal. Teenagers and people in their 20s chatted outside on the street and in the apartment, but late in the evening Mozie, 28, left the apartment to run to the store for some beer, according to a police report.

In the apartment, Julianna Howard, Edward's sister, heard Edward Howard say that Myers couldn't come to the apartment without having sex with him, according to the police report. After hearing that, Julianna Howard left, leaving Christine Myers and Edward Howard alone

Later, Mozie came back to the apartment. The door was locked, so after calling out for Myers or his brother, he looked in the window and saw Edward Howard on top of Myers, the police report said. The report said Mozie yelled and then broke a window with his hand, trying to get in, but he suffered a deep laceration to his wrist and left to get treatment.

It was around 12:20 a.m. Tuesday when Myers called police from her cell phone, telling dispatchers she was being raped and was going to be killed. The responding officers found the door locked and forced their way in, police said, discovering Myers dead, apparently strangled, in a hallway. Howard was found hiding under a pile of clothing in a bedroom.

Later, informed that he was under arrest for murder, Howard told police, "I'm sorry she had to die. Give my condolences to her family," according to a report. Howard is being held without bond in Broward County Jail, charged with murder and sexual battery.

Sunrise police spokesman Lt. Robert Voss was unable to provide any specific motive for the attack on Myers, and Howard's friends also were at a loss. Howard had a criminal past, they acknowledged, but they never sensed this level of violence.

"It must have been something inside him," Isme said. "It was not him. He wasn't that way."

Myers' death has been hard on the man who was Myers' boyfriend and Howard's brother. Mozie has been depressed since the murder, Desire and Isme said.

"He says he wants to forgive him, because he's his brother," Desire said. "But he's also really upset at him."

Staff Researcher William Lucey contributed to this report.

Kevin Smith can be reached at kssmith@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2009.